Automatic trap for refrigerator car drainpipes



Dec, 3, w46. E. R. BATTLEY ET AL AUTOMATIC lTRAP FOR REFRIGERATOR CARDRAIN PIPS Filed Jan. 26, 1945 Patented Dec. 3, 1946 v AUTOMATIC TRAPFOR REFRI-GERATOR CAR DRAINPIPES EdwinvR. lattley and George E. McCoy,

l Montreal, Quebec, Canada Application January 26, 1945, SerialNo.574,789

This invention relates to an automatic sealed trap for the liquiddischarge pipe of a railway refrigerator car.

The trap of the present invention is secured to the under side of thecar floor in position to coact with the discharge pipe of the car, andto provide a water seal within the trap which serves to prevent theingress of air and heat to the interior of the car therethrough oregress of cold air from said car.

The trap is so constructed as to maintain itself in normal sealingposition but is adapted to be easily tilted to discharge the watertherefrom when it is desired to clean the trap or bowl or car.

The principal object of the invention is to provide such a trap whereinthe bowl thereof is manually movable from under said discharge pipe to aposition where it will remain free and clear of said discharge pipe sothat the latter may be Iconveniently cleansed when necessary.

1A further object of the invention is to provide a counterweight forsaid bowl to automatically hold the bowl in closed or service position.

A still further object is to so associate said counterweight with thepivotal support of said bowl and pipe that said counterweight will, whenthe bowl is manually moved to open position, automatically maintain thebowl in said open position And it is the ultimate object of theinvention to y provide such a trap wherein the bowl will be.automatically released from open position by a service movement or jarof the car, so that should said bowl be inadvertently left in openposition it will automatically return, when jarred, to service position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing forming part of thislapplication and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

The drawing is a central vertical sectional view of a refrigerator cardischarge pipe showing my improved trap as secured thereto.

The lower end of a refrigerator car drain pipe is shown 'at I asprojecting downwardly from the bottom of the :car floor 2 for thedrainage of moisture from the melting refrigerant, or other liquids fromthe car.

The sealing trap comprises a bowl 4 of circular or rectangular cup shapeformation, which is hingedly attached, as at 6, to the drain pipe I orother partl of the car. To one side of the bowl 4 a counterweight 8 issupported, it being formed upon the outer end of the laterally extendingstrap 2 Claims.

IU secured to the bottom of the bowl so -that said bowl andcounterweight are fixedly associated together. The respective weightsvof the bowl and counterweight in relation to their distances from thehinge axis are proportioned so as to maintain the bowl by gravity onlyin closed or service position, and, furthermore, when so desired, tomaintain said bowl, by gravity, in open position.

In the modification shown the counterweight 8 overbalances the weight ofthe bowl 4 and holds the bowl normally in closed position, as shown infull lines, but when the bowl is manually moved to open position, asshown in dotted lines, the center of gravity 9 of the counterweight 8moves slightly over and beyond the center of the hinge B andoverbalances the weight of the bowl 4 and holds the bowl in openposition. It will b-e noted that in open position the center of gravityI2 of the bowl is practically below the center of the hinge.Furthermore, the axis of the hinge extends preferably crosswise of thecar.

Railway cars in service are violently moved in all directions due tocoupling shocks, air brake application, uneven track causing swaying ofthe car, etc., any one of which would cause the counterweight, ifinadvertently left in open position,

to move back over the center of the hinge and' thence to closed positionby gravity. In this arrangement no manually operable latch is needed orrequired to hold the bowl in open position. In such installations as areprovided with a latch, if such latch were not released by the operator,the bowl would remain in open position, thus allowing cold air to escapefrom the car, or warm air to enter the car through the open drain pipe.This, obviously is an undesirable situation which the present inventionis designed to overcome.

The axis of the hinge 6 preferably extends substantially transversely ofthe car since the great majority and more forceful movements of the carare in a direction lengthwise thereof.

Furthermore, it is obvious that the bowl 4 may be manually moved to openposition by simply raising the counterweight 8 until it passes thecenter 6 of the hinge, and that it may be returned, manually, from openposition by moving said counterweight in the reverse direction over saidcenter when it will fall by gravity and thus swing the bowl under thedischarge pipe.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention isnot'limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, asit is obvious that various modifications 3 thereof, within the scope ofthe claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In a refrigerator oar having a drain pipe to drain liquid out of theinterior of the car; a liquid trap for the lower end of the drain pipe,said trap including a bowl hingedly supported by a xed car part at oneside of the hinge axis, and a counterweight `iixedly associated withsaid bowl at the other side of the hinge axis so as to cause said bowlto normally surround the lower end' of said pipe and provide a waterseal therefor,

the respective weights of the bowl and the coun-vr terweight in relationto their distances from the hinge axis being so proportioned as tomaintain the bowl in said water sealing position by gravity, said bowlbeing movable to open position during which movement said counterweightpasses to the other side of said hinge axis suiiiciently to overbalancethe weight of the bowl and thereby hold the bowl in open position bygravity and when in said open position a slight movement of the car willjar the counterweight sufficiently to cause the bowl to :be moved bysaid eounterweight to water sealing position.

2. A trap for a refrigerator car having a. drain pipe to drain liquidout of the interior of the car; said trap including a. bowl and acounterweight xedly associated together, `and a hinge having one partthereof xed to a car part and the other part thereof xed to said trapintermediate said bowl and counterweight with the hinge axis extendingsubstantially transverselyof said car and so that said bowl may be swungto a position surrounding the lower end of said pipe to provide a. waterseal therefor and be held in said position by said counterweight, saidbowl being swingable about said hinge axis to open position during whichmovement the center of gravity of said counterweight passes the verticalplane of the hinge axis sufficiently to overbalance the weight of thebowl and thereby hold said bowl in open position, and when in said openposition a slight movement of the car will jar the counterweightsuiiiciently. to cause the bowl to be moved by said counterweight towater sealing position.

EDWIN R. BATTLEY. GEORGE E. MCCOY.

